Long Overdue — IFPTE, AFGE Urge Biden Administration to Remove SSA Leadership
IFPTE and AFGE sent a joint request the Biden Administration today, alerting the President that, “under the leadership of Commissioner Saul and Deputy Commissioner Black, SSA has achieved the distinction of being one of the most anti-labor agencies in the entire federal government.”
February 25, 2021
Hon. Joe Biden, President
United States of America
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006
Dear President Biden,
We are writing regarding the employment status of Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner, Andrew Saul, and Deputy Commissioner, David Black. As the Presidents of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), two of the unions representing civilian federal workers employed by SSA, we urge the Biden Administration to remove both from these positions immediately, and replace them with leaders that will not only treat the workforce with the dignity and respect they deserve, but also work to preserve and expand Social Security.
We do not take pleasure in sending you this letter. Instead, we were hopeful that Commissioner Saul and Deputy Commissioner Black would have lived up to their sworn statements before the Senate Finance Committee during their confirmation hearings to work in good faith with the workforce and their unions. Sadly, they both took the opposite approach by not only allowing the anti-worker, union busting culture at SSA to flourish, they encouraged it. Indeed, under the leadership of Commissioner Saul and Deputy Commissioner Black, SSA has achieved the distinction of being one of the most anti-labor agencies in the entire federal government.
Your administration needs to look no further than SSA’s ‘hit the ground running’ approach in implementing former President Trump’s executive orders aimed at destroying federal collective bargaining rights and all but eliminating federal worker due process protections. SSA implemented their union busting plan by intentionally bargaining in bad faith so that all bargaining impasses with their unions would land at the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP), a body made up of ‘right-to-work’ and anti-government ideologues appointed by President Trump and not confirmed by the Senate. As you might imagine, the Trump FSIP unilaterally imposed contracts on SSA unions that took the rug out from under our ability to represent our members. Both of our unions are thankful to you for removing all members of the FSIP during the first month of your administration.
It should be noted that we are not the only organizations calling for the removal of Commissioner Saul and Deputy Commissioner Black. The Social Security Works Coalition, which has also called for their ouster, circulated a petition calling for the same in December which was signed by over 230,000 individuals. In addition, national patient advocate, Peter Morley has called for them to be replaced, as has Senate Social Security Subcommittee Chairman, Sherrod Brown, who declared on February 19th in his first official statement as Chairman that, “As agents of the Trump Social Security agenda, they cut the benefits that hardworking Americans have earned, attacked the Social Security Administration's employees, denied beneficiaries due process, and needlessly increased disability reviews during the COVID-19 pandemic. No one has been safe from their path of destruction.”
Lastly, we would like to assure your Administration that you would be on firm ground in removing the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner. In that regard, we would like to point the Administration to Seila Law, L.L.C. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where the Supreme Court struck down the removal protections of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s director. Mr. Saul has this same removal protection that was found unconstitutional.
We believe that the immediate ouster of these two Trump appointees will benefit the nation and the Social Security workforce alike.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Everett Kelley, President
AFGE, AFL-CIO
Paul Shearon, President
IFPTE, AFL-CIO
Cc: Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President